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Industry

Putin follows Trump to China, Xi hosts US president, Baidu earnings

Russian President Vladimir Putin will travel to China next week, days after US counterpart Donald Trump concluded a visit that was heavy on ceremony and light on substance. Putin’s one-day trip will take place on Wednesday, the South China Morning Post said, citing unidentified sources. It is unlikely there will be any elaborate parades or welcome ceremony for the routine visit, according to the report (see SCMP Plus Xi meeting tracker). This will be the first time that China has hosted Russian...

May 15, 2026

Industry

Xi-Trump summit: can ‘aspirational’ new vision for stability survive strategic rivalry?

True challenge will be finding ways to ‘cooperate constructively within an inherently competitive relationship’, Chinese analyst cautions President Xi Jinping’s new formula for China-US relations is “aspirational”, but the “real test” will be ensuring the two powers can work together despite their deepening rivalry, a leading Chinese political observer has cautioned. Building this stability was the overriding priority and their competition must remain controlled, Xi emphasised. Zhao Minghao, deputy director of the Centre for American Studies at Shanghai’s Fudan University, cautioned about the structural tensions still shaping the relationship beneath the surface. “This new concept is aspirational, but it is not where the relationship actually is right now,” Zhao said. “The real test is how the two powers find ways to cooperate constructively within an inherently competitive relationship.” “Major disagreements – such as US military deployment in the Asia-Pacific – will persist. But Beijing and Washington could pursue practical cooperation in areas like non-sensitive trade and AI safety,” he added.

May 15, 2026

Industry

Xi-Trump summit aside, 2 meetings in Asia matter for global trade

Most readers of foreign news pages this weekend will be assuming that US President Donald Trump’s summit with Chinese President Xi Jinping in Beijing has been dominating everyone’s attention. But across Asia, Trump, with his massive business entourage, was not the only act in town this week. At least two other major sets of meetings should not be overlooked. First, in New Delhi, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi was hosting foreign ministers from the 10 Brics economies and a growing community...

May 15, 2026

Industry

Top Singapore-based physicist relocates to China after superconductor breakthrough

Prominent young professor becomes doctoral supervisor at leading Chinese research university amid high-level recruitment drive Stephen Lin Er Chow, a physicist who designed a groundbreaking copper-free superconducting oxide capable of high-temperature superconductivity, has joined Zhejiang University from the National University of Singapore (NUS). Last year, at 27, Chow published the findings in the journal Nature, marking the first top-tier publication for the NUS lab since its establishment two decades ago. Confirming that he had joined Zhejiang University full-time, Chow said: “I really like Hangzhou’s living environment [and] the scenery around West Lake.” He also pointed to his connections to China, noting that his grandfather was of Chinese descent and his wife is Chinese. At NUS in 2022, Chow became the youngest recipient of the Best Graduate Researcher Award during his PhD studies. Immediately after graduation at 26 years old, he was offered a position at the university as a research fellow. He arrived in China through Zhejiang University’s “100 Young Professors” programme and is a principal investigator at the elite research university.

May 15, 2026

Industry

Xi Jinping meets foreign leaders: tracker, May 2026

US President Donald Trump wrapped up his visit to China on Friday, the first by a US leader in nine years. The three-day trip, originally scheduled for March, had been postponed as due to the Iran war. Following Trump’s departure, Russian leader Vladimir Putin will pay a one-day visit on Wednesday, the South China Morning Post reported exclusively. His trip will mark the first time Beijing has hosted the leaders of the two powers in the same month. Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif will...

May 15, 2026

Industry

In 2021, China becomes the third country to safely land a rover on Mars – SCMP archive

On this day five years ago, China became the third country in the world to safely land a rover on Mars after months of space travel After seven months of space travel, three months in orbit and “nine minutes of ter­ror”, China has become the third coun­try in the world to safely land a rover on Mars. The China National Space Admin­is­tra­tion (CNSA) said its rover Zhu Rong – named after the Chinese god of fire and war – suc­cess­fully landed on Mars yes­ter­day after “nine minutes of ter­ror”, refer­ring to Nasa’s descrip­tion of the period of des­cent, when engin­eers on Earth have no con­trol or over­sight of the rover because of the radio sig­nal delay. “The sci­entific research team con­firmed via the tele­metry sig­nal sent by the Zhu Rong Mars rover that on May 15, the Tian­wen-1 Lander suc­cess­fully landed in the preselec­ted land­ing area in the Uto­pia Plain of south­ern Mars,” CNSA said. Pres­id­ent Xi Jin­ping said in a writ­ten con­grat­u­lat­ory mes­sage that the mis­sion was an import­ant step in China’s space explor­a­tion. Sci­ent­ists should con­tinue their explor­a­tion of Mars and accel­er­ate China’s devel­op­ment as a space power.

May 15, 2026

Industry

As Trump wraps up China trip, what will he and Xi take from historic summit?

Donald Trump concludes milestone China visit after Xi Jinping shows him around Zhongnanhai The ancient trees and roses at Zhongnanhai drew Trump’s eye and sparked some light-hearted banter between the two leaders. As they strolled through the Chinese leaders’ compound, Xi pointed out ancient trees, some of them a few hundred years old. “They live that long?” Trump asked, with a smiling Xi noting that some of the trees were over 1,000 years old. “Nice place. I like it,” Trump quipped. “I could get used to this.” Later, Xi delved into the history of the compound, which used to be part of the Imperial Garden. “The president was interested to learn all about that, including the Chinese roses, which we looked at. And I agreed to send the seeds for these roses to the president as a gift,” Xi said.

May 15, 2026

Industry

Russia’s Putin is heading to China next week, days after historic Xi-Trump summit

The Russian leader’s one-day visit, tipped for May 20, is unlikely to feature the pomp and elaborate details of the US president’s trip Sources told the South China Morning Post that the one-day visit was expected to take place later next week, on May 20. They also said the trip was part of Moscow’s routine dealings with Beijing, with little expectation that there would be an elaborate parade or welcome. It will be the first time that China has hosted the leaders of the two powers in the same month outside a multilateral setting, a reflection of Beijing’s efforts to manage ties with both countries and position itself as a pivotal power amid an increasingly fractured world order. Sources said Putin’s visit would not likely feature that scale of pomp, as Chinese officials had been busy with the Trump trip.

May 15, 2026

Industry

Xi-Trump summit day 1: everything you need to know from the meeting in Beijing

We have put together stories from our coverage of Xi and Trump’s meeting in Beijing. If you would like to see more of our reporting, please consider subscribing. 1. Thucydides Trap, personal touches – all you need to know from Xi-Trump summit so far The two leaders began the day with an extravagant welcome on the steps of the Great Hall of the People before heading in for talks. 2. After fanfare and banquet, day 1 of Trump’s China visit draws to a close Xi and Trump are expected to discuss the...

May 14, 2026

Industry

Trump says Xi offered help on Iran as China seeks to keep Hormuz open

Chinese leader’s overture underscores how global issues are increasingly shaping US-China diplomacy and trade talks “President Xi would like to see a deal made,” Trump said. “He did offer, he said ‘if I can be of any help at all, I would like to be of help.’” “The references to Iran, energy security and the Strait of Hormuz show that the agenda is no longer only bilateral,” said Jing Qian, vice-president of the Asia Society and managing director of its Centre for China Analysis. “The two sides are beginning to talk about shared systemic risks,” he added. “Different language, but both point toward the same strategic necessity: avoiding uncontrolled escalation.”

May 14, 2026

Industry

Xi and Trump set sights on stability for China and the US – with a note of caution

The meeting may have been delayed but when the summit between Chinese President Xi Jinping and his US counterpart Donald Trump took place on Thursday, it yielded a forward-looking agreement. Sitting down for talks at the Great Hall of the People in central Beijing, the two leaders agreed to make stability a key goal of relations over the next three years – and beyond, according to state media. Trump also invited Xi and first lady Peng Liyuan to visit the White House, setting the date for...

May 14, 2026

Industry

Typhon launch of Tomahawk missile is ‘worst provocation’ by the US against China

Observers suggest strong countermeasures after the first live-firing of the system since its deployment to the Philippines Beijing has opposed the Typhon deployment since the Lockheed Martin system arrived at its Luzon base in the Philippines two years ago, claiming it has destabilised regional security. The ground-based vertical launch system can fire Tomahawk and SM-6 missiles, with ranges between 500km and 2,000km (311-1,240 miles), potentially putting China within reach of Luzon. After the Typhon was deployed to the Philippines in 2024, troops practised moving it around in the tropical environment but did not conduct any live-fire tests. According to Song Zhongping, a military analyst and former instructor with the People’s Liberation Army (PLA), the Tomahawk was fired from Luzon Island and flew northbound, clearly aiming at the Taiwan Strait.

May 14, 2026